The Boy I Love (31 page)

‘Jeremy, did you hear me?’ Eddie’s voice cut through his musings.

‘Sorry, I was miles away. What did you say?’

‘Would you like to try the house cocktail? I am assured by this charming barman that it is excellent.’ Eddie gave the barman his most alluring smile and it occurred to Jeremy that he
might have been flirting with him. He felt a flash of unease. Jeremy was discovering emotions he had never felt before. So maybe this ‘unease’ might better be described as jealousy.
This was certainly not an emotion he wanted to feel too often.

He shook himself mentally then turned to Eddie and said, ‘Yes, a cocktail would be lovely. This bar is pretty amazing.’

The bar was not large but it felt womb-like as the walls were a dark pink flock with the ubiquitous wall lights and drapes of silk where necessary. The bar was mirrored glass, and mirrors lined
the wall behind it so customers sitting in the cubicles were reflected in them, doubling the amount of people, which made the room feel even fuller. Everything glowed in a pink light. Life was
rosy!

‘Good evening, you young things.’ The voice told a tale of cigarettes and red wine and late nights.

‘George, how lovely to see you.’ Eddie jumped off his bar stool and embraced the man in front of him. Jeremy thought he was pretty impressive. He was tall, over six feet, and broad
in the shoulders. He had a fine head of black hair but the black was out of a bottle and rather overused, Jeremy decided. The man was dressed in a dark red velvet smoking jacket with a white shirt
underneath sporting a large frill down the front. He had black trousers and what appeared to be velvet mocassins with a coat of arms in gold thread sewn on the fronts.

‘So this is Jeremy,’ said the deep throaty voice. ‘Pleased to meet you.’ Jeremy took the outstretched hand and shook it. The hand was big and warm, and the handshake
almost painfully strong.

‘Great to meet you, George. Eddie has been telling me some fantastic stories about you.’

George looked at Eddie and then back to Jeremy and lowered his voice to say, ‘Hopefully not too many stories – always better to keep things close to the chest. Careless talk costs
lives, as they used to say during the war.’ He paused for a fraction of a second and then burst into laughter. ‘Only kidding, chuck, only kidding. My bad boy days are long
gone.’

Jeremy was not so sure, and had the distinct feeling that he would not want to cross Mr Delaware. However, it was smiles all round now and the drinks flowed. Jeremy explained to George some of
his life as an actor and invited him and Dale to come to the first night of
Hamlet
.

‘We’ll see,’ said George. ‘Dale is not very good at sitting still for long. You’ll meet him later – he is DJ tonight in the club. He loves it, up and down
like a sailor on shore leave. Well, my pretty babies, I am going to leave you to have your dinner, and then maybe we can meet up later with Dale for a nightcap. Have a good night and be happy,
boys.’ He kissed them both farewell and drifted off to a table of screaming queens who were obviously regular guests of the hotel.

Eddie and Jeremy adjourned to the restaurant which was yet another fantasy of colour and bad taste. This time it was about black walls and lamps that hung from the ceiling above each table,
creating a pool of light by which to eat. However, it was incredibly difficult to see anything and Jeremy got quite hysterical with laughter as he peered through the darkness trying to talk to
Eddie.

‘Stop it, J, you will offend our host. It is supposed to be very atmospheric,’ said Eddie, trying very hard to read the menu.

‘It is certainly that – to the point of being almost stratospheric.’ Jeremy groped for Eddie’s leg under the table. ‘Very good for touching up your date though,
which I guess is what it is all about really.’

Eddie giggled and moved closer to Jeremy and they spent dinner behaving outrageously under the table. It added a whole new meaning to the words ‘table manners’.

‘God – if my parents could see me now they would disown me,’ said Jeremy, stuffing his face with avocado dip. ‘Have you eaten here before?’ He was beginning to
think that Eddie had been living this life for quite a while.

‘Only once, with a friend from school,’ Eddie replied. ‘But nothing romantic like this.’ He leaned across the table and licked some dip off Jeremy’s cheek.
‘Can’t wait for the strawberries and cream,’ he whispered.

Jeremy had another pang of unease. Something made him think that Eddie was telling him what he knew Jeremy wanted to hear. But he brushed aside the still small voice of suspicion. After all,
what did the past matter? This was now, and he knew that Eddie was in love with him and they would be together for ever. This was his destiny. It was meant to be.

By the time they had finished dinner both of them were very tipsy. They arrived back at the cocktail bar to find George and friends equally well oiled.

‘Here they are, love’s young dream,’ announced George to the table. ‘Boys, meet my Dale,’ and he practically shoved poor Dale in front of them for inspection. He
was not at all what Jeremy had imagined, if indeed he had imagined anyone at all, but it certainly would not have been anywhere close to the vision in front of them. Dale was tall and elegant as a
willow, with long blond hair nearly to his shoulders. He had piercing blue eyes, and very defined cheekbones. He was like a model, thought Jeremy.

‘Hi, pleased to meet you,’ said Dale in a soft voice, almost lisping. ‘I hear you are coming to the club later. I will play a song for you if you tell me what you would like to
hear.’ He lifted a long delicate hand to his face and brushed some hair from his eyes. Then he turned and pranced off like a race horse.

‘Don’t mind Dale,’ said George. ‘I told you he can’t keep still. Now sit yourselves down and have some of this champagne.’

They sat down and introduced themselves to the rest of the table. Eddie seemed to be in his element, and entertained them all with jokes and stories for the next hour. The irony was not lost on
Jeremy, who for all his training as an actor, now felt completely useless. Yet somehow it didn’t matter. His ego did not feel threatened and he was happy to bask in his lover’s
reflected glory. He was on a high, not just from the champagne, but from Eddie’s attention. He had never felt so complete as a man. He just wanted to spend every minute with this guy and feel
his energy inside him. He was lost to the world that night. When they got to the club Jeremy danced for hours. He gave himself to the thudding bass beat and just let rip. He had never really danced
in his life, and he made Eddie laugh with his attempts at Disco dancing. There were bodies all around him and he could feel their heat. Different men passed by, and would kiss him or touch him up
as they danced past. He loved the attention and yet always looked for Eddie for assurance. Eddie was equally busy moving around the dance floor flirting and touching up dancers. The two of them
danced with another boy for quite a long time. It got very steamy and there was talk of going back to the room for a threesome, but Jeremy suddenly got cold feet and backed off. Eddie danced him
into a corner and kissed him passionately.

‘Don’t fret, J, you are the only thing in my life now. We don’t have to have any diversions or side orders if you don’t want them. I am happy with just you and me.
Let’s go back to the room now and make love all night. Come on, you gorgeous man, I am feeling so randy!’

Jeremy was so drunk by this time he could not have done anything much in the way of dancing or flirting. When they got to their room he fell across the bed and passed out. The next thing he
knew, Eddie was undressing him very slowly and whispering in his ear, ‘You are gorgeous and wonderful and useless and drunk, but I love you, Jeremy Sinclair. Just get your clothes off and you
will soon feel better because you will be feeling me beside you.’

Jeremy giggled and freed his foot from his trousers and made a grab for Eddie who rolled away off the bed and out of reach.

‘That’s more like my J. There is hope for you yet. OK, I am going to take my clothes off now, and then we will see who is too drunk to screw.’

‘Not me!’ cried Jeremy, suddenly coming back to life. ‘Ready or not, here I come,’ and he sprang up, grabbed Eddie and threw him down on the bed, pinning him against the
bedhead. He searched Eddie’s face for several moments, trying to read every little tic or twitch. He looked deep into his lover’s eyes and saw himself reflected there. He was giddy with
lust and every muscle was taut with anticipation.

‘I love you, Eddie,’ he said very slowly, then lowered himself down and found Eddie’s mouth for a deep kiss that took him away to paradise.

Sunday was indeed a day of rest for our two young lovers. They missed breakfast and lunch, and finally opened an eye around two o’clock. Several glasses of juice and
two pots of coffee later, Eddie announced that they should go for a walk.

‘It’s cold out there,’ grumbled Jeremy, still snuggled under the sheets.

‘But it is not raining, and the sun is visible. Come on, you wuss, get your kit on. I want to take you by the canal, and then I thought we could have an early dinner at an amazing Chinese
restaurant I know called the Mandarin. It is incredibly famous in these parts and has been going for years.’

Jeremy really had no say in the matter and decided to succumb to whatever Eddie had in mind. His brain no longer seemed to function on a practical level any more. It was all about sensations and
emotional highs, and living every moment with this incredible boy. Jeremy felt so old compared with Eddie, and yet there was only two years between them. Eddie, however, seemed to have lived more
lifetimes in those two years than Jeremy would ever do in twenty.

The boys set off in their winter woollies and walked briskly along the canal. It was pretty bleak even with the sun shining on the dark water, but Eddie seemed to love it.

‘I reckon this will be very popular one day,’ he said. ‘The old warehouses and cottages will all get gentrified – you just wait and see.’ By five it was dark, and
they made their way into the centre of Manchester to the Chinese restaurant, which was packed already even at this early hour.

‘Everyone here is Chinese!’ exclaimed Jeremy.

‘Exactly,’ replied Eddie with a grin.

The menu was extensive and Jeremy lost the will to live just trying to read it, so once again he put himself into the capable hands of his lover. Eddie went to town and they really had trouble
finishing the banquet, especially when it came to the chicken feet – a ‘speciality of the house’.

‘Oh, Eddie, this is really stuck in my craw,’ groaned Jeremy, practically gagging. ‘I can’t eat it, I am sorry,’ and he virtually spat it out into his napkin.

‘I must say, you do look rather purple,’ chuckled Eddie. ‘Don’t want to kill you off so soon in the relationship. Come on, let’s go grab a taxi to the hotel and
have a cocktail.’

By the time they got back, Jeremy was so full of Chinese he just wanted to lie down and go to sleep.

‘Oh, don’t be such an old misery guts,’ retorted Eddie. ‘Get in the shower and you will soon feel like a new man.’

Jeremy did as he was told and stood for a good ten minutes letting the hot water caress his back and shoulders. He suddenly called out to Eddie, ‘You are right, I do feel like a new man.
Got anyone in mind?!’

The next thing he knew, he was being scrubbed with a loofah and Eddie was whispering in his ear, ‘Haven’t got any new men, but this one has plenty of wear left in him, so shut up and
enjoy!’

Later, they strolled into the bar feeling on top of their game. As per usual the bar was full to bursting, and the conversation as loud and shrill as ever. Eddie waved to George, who was holding
court at a big centre table. They decided to sit at the bar for a while and ordered champagne cocktails.

‘Oh, this is slipping down a treat,’ said Jeremy. ‘Please order me another immediately.’ He leaned across and was about to plant a kiss on Eddie’s cheek when a
familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.

‘Well, well, what do we have here, love’s young dream? I didn’t think you had it in you, Jeremy. I was obviously completely wrong.’

Jeremy turned to look up from his bar stool into the amused eyes of Robert Johnson.

‘Robert! What a surprise. This is my friend Edward. Eddie, this is Robert Johnson our assistant director.’

‘Hi, would you like a drink, Robert?’ asked Eddie innocently enough.

‘No, I am fine, thanks. I am joining some friends here in a minute. Actually, Jeremy, I am joining Giles and his friend Lord Graham.’ He had turned to Eddie as he said this. Eddie
kept his cool but Jeremy just froze. ‘Do you know Lord Graham, Edward?’ asked Robert, pointedly holding the boy’s gaze.

‘I should do,’ replied Eddie. ‘He is my father. Can’t think what he would be doing here of all places.’

‘I am sure he would be saying exactly the same about your presence here, don’t you think?’ taunted Robert.

‘In that case, maybe it’s a good idea we keep this meeting to ourselves. Come on, Jeremy, we were just going anyway. We only stopped by for a quick drink, looking for an actor friend
of Jeremy’s.’